By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

Ethan Laryea competed in two events — the 200-meter dash and as a member of the 800 relay — a year ago at the state meet. He was All-Ohio in both events, finishing in the top eight in each.

There is a good chance that the Streetsboro senior could double that total next week in Columbus.

Laryea captured the championships in both the 100 with a personal-best time of 10.77 and the 200 with a time of 22.24 at the Division III district meet at Austintown Fitch, held May 21 and May 23.

“Ethan continued to meet his own standards. He’s running incredibly well in the 100,” head coach Robb Kidd said. “Going into regionals, he has a legitimate shot at being a multi-event qualifier again for states. He’s running incredibly well.”

Laryea anchors both the 400 and 800 relays, both of which won titles at the district meet.

In the former he was joined by senior Jayron Chester and sophomores Noah Hodge and Christian

Hunter to produce a time of 43.70. In the latter he and Chester were joined by classmates Ryan Roscoe and Braden Hodge, clocking in at 1:31.71.

The 1,600 relay, comprised of Chester, Braden Hodge and juniors Jaiden Kendrick and Ty Zipprich, captured its title, too, with a time of 3:34.02.

Seniors Chris Daniels and Jaden Hushion were joined by freshmen Ryan Haber and Preston Krzeminski in finishing runner-up in the 3,200 relay with a time of 8:38.74.

Zipprich also finished third in the 300 hurdles with a time of 40.73. Senior Jordan McCarty did the same in the long jump with a leap of 20 feet, 10 inches.

Placing fourth were Noah Hodge in the 100 (11.20) and sophomore Jacob Anderson in the 110 hurdles (16.48).

Team-wise, Streetsboro finished second out of 12 teams with 107 points. Salem won the championship with 120 points, while Marlington was third with 83 points.

The Rockets will compete in the regional meet on May 28 and May 30 also at Austintown Fitch.

KENT ROOSEVELT

Kyle McQueen came about as close as he possibly could have to winning the 110-meter hurdles without actually doing it at the Division II district meet at Tallmadge, which was held May 20 and May 22.

The Kent Roosevelt senior finished with a time of 14.72 seconds, just .01 behind champion St. Vincent-St. Mary’s Ali Hann. McQueen also was runner-up in the 300 hurdles with a time of 39.52.

“Kyle has been improving his time in the 110s all year and is really chipping away at his PR,” head coach Andrew Murray said. “He’s been running consistently over the last three or four weeks with really low, competitive times. We knew that if he continued to do what he’s been doing, he’d have a good chance to make it to regionals and then hopefully out again this week.”

Also finishing second were senior Carter Stevenson in the 3,200 with a time of 9:50.37 and junior Max Froman in both the shot put (49 feet, 6 inches) and discus (143-11). Stevenson placed fourth in the 1,600 (4:28.78) as did his classmate Braylon Hawthorne in the 800 (1:55.05).

The 800 and 1,600 relays finished runner-up as well.

The 800 relay, made up of seniors Simon Hassler, Jaiden Portis and Ke’ Shan Talbert and junior Tyler Ellington, had a season-best time of 1:28.75, only .39 behind the first-place team from Green.

“We think those four guys still have a little bit of room for growth in the next week or so, and they think so too,” said Murray. “It was kind of a nice balance of running well and being happy but also knowing you’ve got room to improve.”

The 1,600 relay, consisting of Hawthorne, Hassler, Portis and sophomore Josiah Atanga, clocked in at 3:29.46.

Overall, the Rough Riders finished third out of 16 teams with 72 points. Tallmadge captured the title with 103 points and Revere was second with 80 points.

Kent Roosevelt will compete in the regional meet May 27 and May 29 at North Royalton.

MOGADORE

Jason Garvin’s experience at last year’s state meet was a nightmare.

He fouled on all three of his long jumps.

So when the Mogadore senior fouled on his first two jumps at the Division V district meet May 21 and May 23 at Cuyahoga Heights, it was hearts-a-beating fast in the Wildcat camp.

“We were all pretty nervous,” head coach Ann Murphy said. Garvin, though, came through with flying colors. His leap of 21-0.25 landed him the championship.

“Jason gathered himself like a real champ and did what he had to do,” said Murphy. “He has a great chance of going back to state. He works very hard, he’s very locked in and he’s ready. He’s ready to go to the next level.”

Team wise, Mogadore finished seventh with 54 points out of 14 teams. Cuyahoga Heights captured the championship with 101.5 points. Independence finished second with 87 points and Dalton was third with 80 points.

Senior Cameron Brady finished third in both the 800 (2:05.55) and 1,600 (4:35.99).

“There’s nobody who is more dedicated than Cam,” said the coach. “He runs probably 365 days a year, and he’s prepared for this since probably last year.”

Also placing third were juniors Evan Phillips in the 300 hurdles (43.47) and Shayne Thomas in the discus (146-0).

Taking fourth with a time of 8:43.86 was the 3,200 relay team of Brady, sophomores Thomas McEwen and Scotty Shaffer and freshman Caileb Tompkins.

Mogadore will compete at the regional meet on May 28 and May 30 at Cuyahoga Heights.

RAVENNA

Ravenna junior Zander Mehalic captured the title in the 800 with a time of 2:03.77 at the Division III district meet at Austintown Fitch, held May 21 and May 23.

“Zander ran well,” head coach Ceon Kelly said in the understatement of the year. “He’s a coach’s dream. A yes sir, no sir kid. He truly puts his best foot forward and leaves it on the track.”

Overall, the Ravens finished seventh out of 12 teams with 56 points. Salem won the title with 120 points. Streetsboro finished second with 107 points and Marlington was third with 83 points.

Participating in three events at the regional meet May 28 and May 30 also at Austintown Fitch will be senior Mason Scott. He finished second in both the 300 hurdles (40.42) and long jump (21-7) plus third in the high jump (6-0).

“I think in the long jump Mason really has a shot to place top three,” said Kelly. “In the high jump, if he can get his 6-2 like he usually does, he’ll place top three. In the 300 hurdles he has to PR to make it out.”

Mehalic was also a member of two third-place relays – the 1,600 and 3,200. In the former he teamed with senior Curtis Ross and sophomores Jack Masters and Isaac Thompson for a time of 3:42.09. In the latter he and Ross were joined by junior Darius Wilson and sophomore Ethan McKamey to clock in at 8:44.52.

In the 800 relay Wilson, Masters and Thompson combined with senior LaDarion Askew to finish fourth with a time of 1:35.49.

ROOTSTOWN

Troy Kopac was Rootstown’s lone regional qualifier. The sophomore Rover finished third in the high jump with a personal-best leap of 5-10 at the Division IV district meet at Norwayne, which took place on May 20 and May 22.

“Troy is going to be our MVP this year. He’s our leading scorer by almost double what everybody else had,” head coach Larry Bailey said. “He’ll probably have to do 6-2 to get down to state. It’s possible on any given day.”

Kopac’s performance gave Rootstown 17 points, which kept the Rovers out of the cellar team wise. They were 12th out of 13 teams.

Kopac will compete in the regional meet May 27 and May 29 at Austintown Fitch.